


The Takers

by hiza-chan (callunavulgari)



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-20
Updated: 2012-04-20
Packaged: 2017-11-03 23:39:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/387247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callunavulgari/pseuds/hiza-chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He saves Shizuo's life three times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Takers

**Author's Note:**

> Music Meme; The Takers - Barcelona, for infinitymax
> 
> Well, I think you can save this beast.

Izaya saves Shizuo's life exactly three times.  
  
.  
  
The first is completely accidental and, at the time, he had regretted it so completely that it had made his stomach go sour. It had been during the time that Shizuo had started taking odd jobs, clerks and cooks and servers- Izaya taking a certain sadistic kind of pleasure from walking by the window, pausing long enough for Shizuo to see him, and listening to the ensuing damage- the sounds of shouting, of the door flinging open, and the sound of footsteps. Only then did he run.  
  
Getting a rise out of Shizuo- it's _fun_.  
  
That day they'd broken seven vending machines, five street signs, and a motorcycle. Inevitably, Izaya had gotten away unscathed. Only later, once he was safe in his own apartment with a hot cup of tea and his laptop warm at his side did he learn of the gas leak. The lit stove. The _explosion_.  
  
.  
  
The second time is mostly on accident.  
  
The thing is, Shizuo may be a monster, but he isn't _invincible._  
  
Sometimes, Izaya forgets this.  
  
As an information broker, you _learn_ things. Things about debts and deals gone bad and half-schemed assassinations thought up by idiots who think that killing a debt collector and his bodyguard will make things _magically_ go away.  
  
Even Shizuo can't survive a bullet to the head.  
  
It isn't difficult to go to Tom, to sing-song "I know something you don't know" into Tom's ear while Shizuo harasses some kid further down the street. Isn't difficult to sell the information and pretend that he's doing it as an _investment_ and not because really, things would be terribly boring without Shizuo around.  
  
He watches events unfold. Watches the police break down the door and Shizuo come in behind them. Watches the sniper that they somehow miss take aim, and stops watching. The knife slides in easy, between the ribs to pierce the heart. The gunman makes a shuddering noise into his shoulder, and slumps.  
  
There is blood all over his hands and his switchblade, smeared on his cheek and there are police not twenty feet below him. He should leave. He takes one glance back, and finds Shizuo, watching him curiously.  
  
He takes a deep breath and flashes Shizuo a smirk, licks the blood from the corner of his lip, and takes off..  
  
The third time is most definitely not an accident.  
  
After the second time, Izaya had made it his business to keep an eye on Shizuo. He knows everything, the jobs he takes, the money he earns, even what times he visits that famous brother of his. Call it a mild obsession, but Izaya _is_ curious, because Shizuo is almost an investment himself.  
  
He finds out minutes before it happens, and by the time he gets there Shizuo has a worrying amount of holes in him, another three guns trained on him, and Tom is tied to a chair. Shizuo is coughing blood onto the floor, a man's boot pressing his cheek into the linoleum.  
  
Izaya doesn't like guns much. He doesn't like them because they're _impersonal_ \- because a human's best moment in life is that second before their heart stops, and Izaya likes to _see_ that moment. That life flicker out. It's almost his duty, to witness that flutter of _fearloathingacceptance_ that passes through those telling windows.  
  
He doesn't like guns, but he uses his anyway.  
  
And because Izaya does not do things by halves, he has the men dropped in seconds. Tom looks startled, not terrified- but _shocked_ , eying Izaya as if he doesn't quite believe what he's seeing. He takes a deep breath and forces a smile to his face, dances between the bodies and over to Tom- skipping right over Shizuo's prone form.  
  
He's humming under his breath as he works the knots loose, and over that he can hear Tom's breathing. Uneven, gasping things that show just how unnerved he really is. On the floor, Shizuo is wheezing- coughing into a puddle of his own blood and for just a minute, Izaya allows himself to wonder about what life would be like without the monster.  
  
Boring.  
  
When the knots are loose, only then does he crouch near Shizuo- prodding him with the end of his boot. Shizuo groans and brown eyes peer up at him, hazy and unfocused. Anger mars his face, for just a moment, and he mouths Izaya's name- mouths it because there's too much blood in his throat to _say_ it. Fingers reaching, crawling over Izaya's boot to grab hold of his ankle. His hand tightens briefly, and then flops back onto the floor.  
  
Izaya smiles down at him, whispers, "See, Shizu-chan? Don't say I never did anything for you."  
  
Turns to Tom, who is eying him speculatively, who opens his mouth and asks, "But why?" Izaya glances over his shoulder, at Shizuo panting into the floor- still trying to get to his feet so he can get a hold of Izaya. His smile slips into something a little bit soft, almost affectionate. Entertained, if nothing else.  
  
"Things would be boring without him," he remarks, turning on his heel and heading towards the back door. "You better not let him die," he calls over his shoulder.  
  
.  
  
He saves Shizuo's life three times. After that, he stops counting. Because really, it's just an investment.

 


End file.
